Photography | Change Is Hard

July 24, 2026
by dawnkinster 13 Comments

It’s all fun and games

This morning I was headed out the back door when I saw, directly in front of me, a deer staring back. We both had that kind of ‘deer in headlights’ look. I quickly sidestepped out of sight and walked quietly over to the living room to get my camera. And then it hit me. It was a fawn I saw. By the time I slowly and quietly slid back to the door the fawn had moved.

*Nom, nom, nom. This hydrangea is very tasty!*

I felt disappointed that I had missed the beautiful, full faced, shot. But I was also very happy.

Very happy because in early summer we had seen only one mama deer with one baby. And a few days after seeing mama with her newborn, I came across a fawn stretched out in the road as if asleep, but clearly not. I have only seen mama once since, with no baby in tow. I silently told her how sorry I was.

All summer I haven’t seen the mama deer. I assumed she had left the area to grieve alone. But this morning, here was a large fawn, so maybe our little one hadn’t been killed? And where was mama during this visit?

Oh, yes, there she is. Watchful as always.

And then the baby took off across the yard so fast I couldn’t see where he or she went. I switched windows to watch the yard. And then this happened.

*I can’t stop my happy feet from running!*

*I’ll kick up my heels and release the joy!*

*I’m just a kid, mom, don’t you remember how fun it was to be young?*

*It’s my favorite time of the year. OK, it’s my only time of the year so far in my young life…*

Such joyful running, in big loops around the backyard. Racing from behind shrubs, circling the white pine, at full speed. Over and over and over this little one danced with glee through the yard.

I shot 300+ pictures. Some of them almost in focus.

He or she kept on running. I kept on taking pictures. Until finally he (I’ve decided it’s a he) stopped behind a blue spruce and snuck a peek over near where mama stood. I think he was tuckered out. He went over to mom who had come out from behind the bush to reign in her kid.

*I hope you got THAT out of your system!*

But what is this?

A 2nd mama? Is my little guy being mothered by two moms? Or is this daddy and mama and baby?

But wait….what’s this?

*You, little one, are a bad influence on my kid!*

Another baby! Two mamas and two babies!

The little group hung around in the shadows for a bit of time before moving off.

*It’s all fun and games until somebody breaks a leg. Let me check to make sure you’re alright.*

But not without one last look at the house.

By mama and baby. Just so I knew they knew they were being watched.

*I’m watching you too, lady. (Hope you liked the show!)*

Glad to have you in the neighborhood, family. You made me smile.

Wordless Wednesday

July 22, 2026 by dawnkinster 10 Comments

July 9, 2026
by dawnkinster 23 Comments

Got a little damp

I wasn’t going to post today. I’ve got lots of stuff I need to do and posting wasn’t high on my to-do list. But moving the images from my camera to storage was. And I promised myself I wasn’t going to look at them. Because I don’t have time, you know.

But I did. It was raining one morning this week and I was shooting birds (not literally) through the window. This one made me laugh out loud. You never know what you’ve got until you look at them on a bigger screen.

So I’m sharing it with you. I hope you smile too.

Wordless Wednesday

July 8, 2026 by dawnkinster 19 Comments

Wordless Wednesday

June 24, 2026 by dawnkinster 25 Comments

June 21, 2026
by dawnkinster 39 Comments

Memorial poppies

A few days ago, on a beautiful blue sky, puffy white cloud afternoon, a photography friend and I went over to Fennville Michigan to see the poppy field. If you’re not from around here, and maybe even if you are, you might ask what poppy field?

There’s a special place in a tiny little town over on the west side of the state. It’s four acres of red poppies and blue bachelor buttons. Maybe that’s hard to image, so let me share a few of the images I took over the course of a couple magical hours.

We arrived around 5 p.m. and the light on the flowers was so beautiful. It was hard to capture the entire enormity of it.

As we stood, mesmerized, near the opening to the field I listened as more people arrived.

Each person stopped abruptly and then sighed or gasped. Voices lowered in respect and awe.

The awe is because the field is over the top beautiful. The respect came from the reason the field was planted in the first place. It was originally dedicated to a young man who served tours in Afghanistan, came home with PTSD, and took his own life.

The field is also dedicated to a young 19 year old woman who lost her battle to a rare form of cancer.

I looked up both stories after taking many photos of beautiful poppies up close and in masses. We were waiting for the sun to lower, hoping for a pretty sunset.

Meanwhile we wandered all the way around the field, looking for different angles, different colors.

Different shapes.

A lot of the time I wasn’t shooting. I was just walking and thinking about the young people this town lost, the heartbreak that planted these beautiful flowers.

I don’t know how many pictures of poppies I can cram into one blog post. I want you to see them all. But I took 309 images, and that’s a bit much. I think I edited 70 some, still too many.

I’ll just try to show you a representative few and hope that you can imagine the feeling.

By 9 p.m. or so the sun was lowering. The white puffy clouds were long gone but there were still interesting shapes in the sky. It wasn’t a big impressive sunset but when you looked through a camera lens it was pretty amazing.

I don’t think we could get a more perfect day to see this sweet field.

There’s a very narrow window to see the poppies. They begin to bloom around the middle of June and they’re done by the 4th of July. I feel very lucky that we got to see them at all.

And I hope you enjoyed seeing a tiny bit of a magical place. Think a bit about the two young people too, I think their families would appreciate knowing they are not lost in all the noise of today.

In a peaceful poppy field in a tiny town in rural Michigan their memories are strong. Even among those of us that never met them.

June 19, 2026
by dawnkinster 29 Comments

By way of spreading joy

A week ago today I took three people to Kensington to feed the birds. They had never done that before but they’d heard about it and wanted to have the experience.

They had to drive almost 2 hours but they thought it was worth it. I do too. Though we arrived early in the morning, when the birds are most likely to be hungry, we weren’t inundated with begging feathered ones. But we had our fair share.

*It rained all night and I’m not looking my best, but I sure am hungry!*

Mostly it was the woodpeckers, in different varieties that were interested in us. Though an occasional red-winged blackbird stopped by.

*I’m really interested in that peanut you have, could you toss it here?*

And the bluejays were always nearby.

*I’m faster than any darn woodpecker, just watch me!*

In fact this visit turned into a ‘toss a peanut’ experience. The red-bellied and the red-headed woodpeckers and of course the bluejays are all very talented at plucking a tossed peanut out of the sky.

We spent much of our walk through the woods tossing peanuts into the air where they were eagerly snatched by a winged one.

And of course we walked out onto the boardwalk to check on the blue heron rookery.

*Ms. Red-winged was startled as we walked by.*

The heron babies are now teenagers, testing their wings and making a great deal of noise whenever an adult ventures by. Just in case there might be breakfast arriving.

*I can flap my wings faster than you. Oh will you two just settle down? I’m trying to nap here.*

All in all, though we weren’t swarmed by birds I think everybody had a great time and I hope they come back for another adventure!

*Thanks for the peanut! See ya next time!*

Wordless Wednesday

June 17, 2026 by dawnkinster 22 Comments

June 11, 2026
by dawnkinster 32 Comments

Looking for the lights

Last week a storm on the sun was predicted to send some major northern lights our way. A storm big enough to be seen even down here in southeast Michigan. But since there’s so much light down here, what with cities and towns all over, a friend and I decided we’d drive the three hours up to the tip of Michigan’s thumb and try our luck.

*A misty evening looking out over Lake Huron.*

When we arrived there was a kind of mist hanging over the lake. It was several hours until sunset, but we didn’t mind hanging out on the beach and waiting.

Or photograph the swans hanging out just up the beach.

But finally the sun began to set and we became hopeful.

Maybe the night would be the night we’d dreamed of. We were ready.

As the sky darkened we could see two planets, Venus and Jupiter. They were the perfect “stars” to practice our camera focus as we waited for the light show to start.

We waited. We noticed clouds in a bank along the horizon and some in the sky. But aurora would look spectacular among the clouds. So we waited some more and practiced focusing on more stars.

*Thousands of stars, and there would be more to see if it were truly dark.*

As time passed the bank of clouds rolled across the lake toward us and we had to change our focus and practice on the stars directly above us where the sky was still clear.

But by midnight the sky was completely clouded over and the light storm hadn’t yet hit earth. We decided to pack it up and head home. No amazing aurora. No milky way.

*A pretty little beach at a roadside park.*

Were we disappointed? Or course. But we had hours on the beach, little waves rolling up on the sand, and stars overhead. Sometimes you don’t get what you want, but you always get what you need when you head out into the night to photograph the sky.

Guaranteed.